Quincy's ferry service, USS Salem museum closed indefinitely

Quincy may have seen the last of its MBTA ferry service and could lose its landmark ship the USS Salem now that the MBTA has scrapped plans to fix the shipyard's damaged wharf.

Patrick Ronan The Patriot Ledger @pronan_Ledger

Quincy may have seen the last of its MBTA ferry service and could lose its landmark shipnow that the T has scrapped plans to fix the shipyard's damaged wharf.

Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the MBTA, said Friday the T has indefinitely suspended plans to fix the damaged wharf and seawall it owns at the Fore River shipyard, citing cost reasons. The USS Salem – the retired Navy cruiser that serves as a museum – and the T's Fore River ferry service have been closed since the fall because of the wharf's instability.

Pesaturo said it would cost the T about $15 million to ensure the structural integrity of the wharf for five years and more than $50 million to make it safe for 50 years.

"The MBTA, which already has a multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog, has difficult decisions to make," Pesaturo said in an email.

The T's Fore River terminal, from which commuter ferries ran between Quincy and Boston, closed in October after a water-main break moved a sea wall and cracked the pavement near the boarding area. The T has since expanded service out of the Hingham shipyard to accommodate Quincy passengers.

The T closed the pier providing access to the Salem in September after discovering that it was unstable. The cruiser, owned by a private nonprofit called the United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum, has offered on-board tours, educational programs and its popular Haunted Ship attraction, since the 1990s.

The museum had been paying the T about $1,100 a month in rent for use of the pier. Since closing, Michael Condon, the nonprofit's executive director, said the museum has lost at least $80,000 in revenue and will be out of money by mid-February.

"I sincerely believe that the MBTA will work with us to solve this dilemma, whether it's us at that pier or them finding a suitable place for us to operate the ship as a museum," he said.

The USS Salem was built at the Quincy shipyard in the 1940s. The Navy commissioned it in 1949 and decommissioned it in 1959.

In 1994, the Salem returned to Quincy and a year later opened as a museum ship. Condon said the expense of maintaining the ship, including monthly electricity and oil bills, plus salaries for four employees make up a yearly budget of about $300,000.

Although the Navy conducts annual inspections of the ship, Condon said his nonprofit owns the ship and the Navy wouldn't take it back if were to close.

"The Navy would say, 'geez, here is the telephone number of the scrapyard,'" Condon said.

Pesaturo said the T will meet with city leaders and museum officials to talk about the future of the wharf and the Salem.

"That will be discussed over the course of the next month or so, but I can tell you it's not likely that MBTA money would be used to fund a project that provides no direct benefit to MBTA customers," he said.

Pesaturo said concrete barriers and fencing have been installed around the wharf to keep the public away from the vulnerable areas.

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